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Dordt Men's Relay Earns All\_American Status at National Meet
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03/5/2009
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Men's Relay Team(\'46riday, March 6; Johnson City, Tennessee) Day
two for the Dordt College Defender track and field team at the NAIA
National Championships provided an All\_American performance by the
men's 4 x 800 meter relay team to cap the indoor season.\line
\line
The quartet, made up of David Christensen, Brent Van Schepen, Josiah
Luttjeboer and Mark Eekhoff cut over three seconds off their semifinal
time to take fourth place in the event. Dordt recorded a time of 7:46.88
in the event and was just three seconds out of third place where Shorter
College ran a 7:43.75. Siena Heights (Michigan) ran the event in a
time of 7:37.68 for the title.\line
\line
Video of the 4 x 800 meter men's final\~ is available here.\line
\line
Earlier in the day Mark Eekhoff ran in the preliminary round of the
600 meters and had a time of 1:21.20 in the three\_lap event. Eekhoff's
time was just over a second slower than the final qualifer's time
of 1:20.15. The fastest time in the prelims was a 1:18.44. Eekhoff's
time was good for ninth in the prelims with the top six times advancing
to the finals on Saturday.\line
\line
{\b Day One, Thursday, March 5}\line
\line
The Dordt men's 4 x 800 meter relay team qualified for the finals
in the event at the NAIA National Championships with a time of 7:49.93
in the semifinal round of the event run on Thursday afternoon. The
Defenders will run in the finals of the event late \'46riday night.
The quartet of David Christensen, Brent Van Schepen, Josiah Luttjeboer
and Mark Eekhoff finished second and is one of eight teams in the
finals. Shorter College had the fastest time of the qualifiers after
recording a 7:43.63.\line
\line
The Dordt women's team did not fare as well with the team placing
13th in the prelim field with a time of 9:36. The foursome of Janice
Brouwer, Michelle Steiger, Tami Wierenga and Sierra Zomer was chasing
a field that was loaded at the top with three teams running the event
in the neighborhood of 9:20. Official times for the women's race were
unavailable late Thursday night.\line
\line
Mark Eekhoff will run in the 600 meter prelims on \'46riday at 3:40
while the men's 4 x 800 meter relay finals are scheduled for 8:10
\'46riday night.\line
\line
The NAIA National Meet is run in Johnson City, Tennessee, March 5\_7.
\par}
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